A Bold Vision for Erlanger

Erlanger Health has served as a cornerstone of care for Chattanooga and the surrounding region for more than 130 years and while we’re proud of that strength today, healthcare is changing rapidly.

That’s why we’re excited to share that after a thoughtful evaluation process led by our Board of Directors, Erlanger has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Prisma Health, a private, locally governed nonprofit healthcare system headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina to pursue a strategic partnership that will position Erlanger for long-term sustainability, growth and innovation in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.

Together, we’re focused on building on our excellence, expanding access for our patients, offering new opportunities for team members and ensuring Erlanger remains well positioned to meet the evolving needs of the communities we serve now and well into the future.

Through a strategic partnership with Prisma Health, which includes $2 billion in strategic capital investments to help accelerate Erlanger’s momentum, we’ll be able to:

Advance specialized and complex care close to home for the communities we serve

Expand operational expertise, clinical capabilities and access to specialty care

Increase investment in research, innovation and emerging technologies

Enrich workforce development, physician recruitment and academic partnerships

Augment and accelerate access to capital and investments to fund important ongoing and long-term capital plans

Enhance Erlanger’s ability to adapt and thrive amid broader healthcare industry pressures and rising demands on health systems

Why Prisma Health

Prisma Health is one of the Southeast’s leading nonprofit health systems, serving more than 1.6 million patients annually through 20 hospitals and a broad network of physicians, providers, educators and researchers. The organization shares Erlanger’s commitment to community-focused care, workforce development, medical education, deep community partnerships and clinical excellence.

During our conversations with Prisma Health, we found they were very similar to Erlanger. From the onset, Prisma Health distinguished itself through its strong cultural alignment, commitment to nonprofit healthcare, investment in academic medicine and demonstrated ability to support long-term growth while honoring local communities. Most recently, they formed a similar partnership with Blount Memorial Hospital in Maryville, Tennessee.

A central priority throughout the process has been identifying a partner that shares Erlanger’s mission and respects its unique role in the region. We believe Prisma Health is the right partner to help advance Erlanger’s mission while preserving and honoring the covenants made to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority and Hamilton County several years ago.

Our Road Ahead

The LOI marks an important milestone, but it is only the beginning of the process. Both organizations will now enter a period of due diligence and continued evaluation. Any final agreement would be subject to approval by Erlanger’s Board of Directors, the Erlanger Health Oversight Panel, Hamilton County Commission and applicable federal and state regulatory authorities.

Nothing changes for patients, employees, physicians or daily operations while this process is underway.

Keeping You Informed

Erlanger remains committed to transparency and will continue to keep you informed while we make progress. As there’s news to share, we’ll post updates on this site. Check back for the latest information.

Thank you for your continued support of Erlanger, and we look forward to sharing more about the process as we move forward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our more than 130-year history is defined by a deep commitment to our mission, and we have proudly served as a cornerstone of care for Chattanooga and the surrounding region. Erlanger was founded through an extraordinary gift that reflected a belief in our community and its potential, and today this investment assures our ability to meet our mission well into the future. The proposed partnership includes $2 billion in strategic investments to help accelerate our momentum to expand access and advance care delivery.

By partnering with Prisma Health, we will be able to fast track our vision and keep Erlanger at the forefront of medicine. Together, we will ensure Erlanger remains a leader in healthcare for the next century and beyond.

Like Erlanger, Prisma Health has a geographically focused strategy with a commitment to a healthier community. They understand the importance of leveraging regionally based experts to provide the personalized care their communities need to create a better state of health. We will be able to utilize investments from Prisma Health to expand access and advance care delivery for patients across the Chattanooga region.

Prisma Health is committed to maintaining Erlanger’s current local leadership and oversight with Jim Coleman in the role of Regional CEO for East Tennessee. Jim will continue providing leadership and oversight of Erlanger and guiding the organization’s growth and integration across Chattanooga and the region.

Additionally, we will continue to have a locally-based dedicated leadership team and occupy the majority of seats on the Prisma Health Eastern Tennessee board and Erlanger will have representation on the Prisma Health corporate board.

Erlanger remains deeply rooted in the Chattanooga region. This partnership is about ensuring Erlanger continues serving its community at the highest level for decades to come, including advancing specialized and complex patient care close to home.

Our community will benefit from the partnership because it will enhance local healthcare, put an exclamation point on our plan and enable Erlanger to move faster and in different ways. Ultimately, it will help us revamp Erlanger.

Patients should continue to seek care as they normally would. Nothing is changing today as a result of this announcement, and patient care, services, staffing and daily operations continue without interruption. Over time, the partnership is expected to expand access to specialty care and advance specialized and complex care in Erlanger’s service areas.

Healthcare is changing rapidly and we believe that given our position of strength as the region’s market leader and our national recognition for our clinical quality, we have a responsibility to explore options that will enable us to accelerate our plans for the future. We went through a rigorous and lengthy process, started a year ago, that included strategic board discussion about whether we should remain independent or partner with someone. Our Erlanger leadership was impressed by Prisma Health’s commitment to a shared mission and developing local and regional delivery systems like ours.

This partnership will augment what we already do well, enabling us to take care in our region to the next level more quickly. This will allow us to partner with an organization that will make us better. It is so much more than a financial investment in Erlanger, this partnership with Prisma Health is about our ability to fast track our strategic plan and ultimately continuously improve the quality of patient care in ways that Chattanooga hasn’t seen before.

Prisma Health was selected because it is a leading nonprofit health system in the Southeast with a strong commitment to local and regional care and a mission that aligns closely with ours. This is a partnership with a super-regional system, not a national system, and we went through a rigorous process to ensure we had the right fit.

We were impressed by Prisma Health’s ability to build on what Erlanger already does well, support our mission and community covenants, and help us advance and expand care across our region more quickly. Prisma Health’s commitment to local healthcare was a driving factor in the Board’s decision, setting them apart from national health systems. The greatest reason why we selected Prisma Health is that they are culturally the right fit – they are positive, friendly and specialize in trauma and academics. With Prisma Health, Erlanger will be able to modernize our facilities and strengthen our academic affiliation with UT College of Medicine.

Erlanger’s role as a teaching hospital is protected under the covenants made to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority and Hamilton County, which both organizations will continue to honor. Prisma Health’s investment in academic medicine was a distinguishing factor in its selection, and the partnership is expected to enrich academic partnerships and continue programs for the education and training of healthcare professionals.

There will be no change, and any current or future donations will be used in the manner the donor intended here in our Chattanooga community.

Both organizations will now enter a period of due diligence and continued evaluation. Any final agreement would be subject to approval by Erlanger’s Board of Directors, the Erlanger Health Oversight Panel, Hamilton County Commission and applicable federal and state regulatory authorities. We will continue to keep employees, physicians and the community informed as the process moves forward.